Brian X Chen

Boom times in Silicon Valley call for hard work, and hard work—at least in technology land—means that coders, engineers and venture capitalists are turning to liquid meals with names like Schmoylent,2. boom: 繁榮，景氣；coder: 程序員；venture capitalist: 風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資家。Soylent, Schmilk and People Chow. The protein-packed3. protein-packed: 富含蛋白質(zhì)的。products that come in powder form are inexpensive and quick and easy to make—just shake with water, or in the case of Schmilk, milk. While athletes and dieters have been drinking their dinner for years, Silicon Valley’s workers are now increasingly chugging their meals, too, so they can get back more quickly to their computer work.4. 運(yùn)動(dòng)員和節(jié)食者喝液體食物當(dāng)正餐已經(jīng)好多年了，現(xiàn)在，越來(lái)越多的硅谷員工也開(kāi)始大口喝液體食物，以便盡快趕回電腦前工作。chug: 一飲而盡，一口喝下。

Demand for some of the powdered drinks, which typically mix nutrients like magnesium, zinc and vitamins,is so high that some engineers report being put on waiting lists ranging from one to six months to receive their first orders.5. 固體飲料（通常含有鎂、鋅、維生素等營(yíng)養(yǎng)物）需求量太大，以至于有些工程師表示，他們得等一至六個(gè)月才能收到第一批訂貨。nutrient: 營(yíng)養(yǎng)素，營(yíng)養(yǎng)物；magnesium: 鎂；zinc: 鋅；vitamin:維生素，維他命。And the drinks are taking off across techie social circles.6. 在技術(shù)人員社交圈中，這些固體飲料已成熱潮。take off: （產(chǎn)品、事業(yè)等）騰飛，突然成功；techie: 技術(shù)人員，（尤指）計(jì)算機(jī)從業(yè)人員。Venture capitalists have also poured money into the companies that offer the meal replacements, and investors including Alexis Ohanian, a founder of Reddit7. Reddit: 美國(guó)一家社交新聞網(wǎng)站。,count themselves as fans of the drinks.

“硅谷”似乎是“忙碌”的代名詞，程序員、工程師、風(fēng)投師……所有人都恨不得永遠(yuǎn)坐在電腦前工作。吃飯？太浪費(fèi)時(shí)間了！那怎么辦？喝固體飲料！于是，含有豐富營(yíng)養(yǎng)物的固體飲料代替正餐，迅速風(fēng)靡技術(shù)人員社交圈，蛋白粉供應(yīng)愈來(lái)愈緊張，一份訂單最快也得等一個(gè)月才能到貨！快來(lái)看看，他們到底有多瘋狂——

“My dream in an ideal scenario would be if I could just pick up some at the airport, premade in the refrigerator section,” said Ohanian, who invested in Soylent and treats the drink as a fallback meal.8. scenario: 設(shè)想，可能發(fā)生的情況； fallback: （計(jì)劃失敗或發(fā)生意外時(shí)）應(yīng)變的，備選的。

The entrepreneur, who frequently flies between New York and San Francisco for work, says he will whip up a batch of Soylent and sip it throughout the day when he is too lazy to make something to eat.9. entrepreneur: 企業(yè)家；whip up: 很快做好（尤指一頓飯）；a batch of : 一批；sip: 小口地喝，抿。

The rise of the meal replacements mirrors Silicon Valley’s start-up froth—and includes a dose of confidence.10. mirror: 反映；start-up: 開(kāi)始階段的； froth: 空談，空想；a dose of: 一劑，一份。The makers of the new drinks said their products were better than the commercial powders that had been on the market for years, because those tended to have lots of sugar and overemphasised the use of protein.11. tend to: 易于，有……的傾向；overemphasise: 過(guò)分強(qiáng)調(diào)，過(guò)分注重。In contrast,Soylent and Schmoylent are both blends12. blend: 混合品，混合物。of nutrients that would allow one to drink only those meals and live a healthy life, they said.

Rob Rhinehart, a software engineer, said he came up with the idea for Soylent in 2013 while working long hours at a mobile communications company and realising he was eating poorly. He said he wanted to create something that could be “universally applicable13. applicable: 適合的，適用的?！眆or hard-working people like himself. So he founded Soylent, based in Los Angeles, that year. Orders took off quickly.

The time wasted by eating is, in Silicon Valley parlance, a “pain point” even for the highest echelon of techie.14. 按照在硅谷的說(shuō)法，就算是對(duì)最高級(jí)的技術(shù)人員而言，浪費(fèi)在吃上的時(shí)間也是一個(gè)“痛點(diǎn)”。parlance: 說(shuō)法，用語(yǔ)；echelon:等級(jí)，階層。

Elon Musk, Tesla’s founder, once said, “If there was a way that I couldn’t eat so I could work more, I would not eat. I wish there was a way to get nutrients without sitting down for a meal,” according to a new book on the entrepreneur.